With bird flu (H5N1) confirmed in two more grama panchayats, the rapid response teams (RRTs) of the Animal Husbandry department culled 21,380 ducks in the district on Saturday.
Officials said that apart from Thakazhy, Nedumudi and Karuvatta, the disease was reported from Purakkad and Cheruthana.
The team killed 9,100 birds within a one-km radius of the infected area at Purakkad and another 3,325 at Cheruthana. As many as 8,065 ducks at Karuvatta and 890 at Nedumudi were also culled. Carcasses of culled birds were burned.
Officials said the bird culling operations would continue in affected areas on Sunday. Around 50,000 birds, mostly ducks, were culled in the district so far to tackle the spread of the disease.
Avian flu was first confirmed in ducks at Kunnumma South (ward 10) in Thakazhy grama panchayat on December 8. Later, the outbreak was confirmed at Nedumudi and Karuvatta on December 24.
Following the mass death of ducks at Purakkad and Cheruthana in recent weeks, the department sent samples of dead birds to the National Institute of High-Security Animal Disease (NIHSAD), Bhopal, for analyses, which tested positive for avian influenza.
It is the fourth outbreak of bird flu to strike the district in the last seven years. Earlier this year, avian flu caused by the H5N8 strain of the Influenza A virus was detected from five places at Nedumudi, Thakazhy, Pallippad, Karuvatta, and Kainakary.
